A Place Called Home
by Snow Whitex Prince Charming
Summary: Emma Swan is 17 nearly 18 years old when she's placed in the home of Mary Margaret Blanchard. She's jaded and hurt, but can the gentle Mary Margaret heal her?


Emma Swan's lip curled in disgust as she saw the familiar sleek black car pull up in front of the group home she was in. They'd been telling her for weeks they'd found her a family. But she'd figured it would fall through. Who in their right minds would want her anyway? She was eight months away from her eighteenth birthday. And as rowdy as they came! But no, Flora Forbes, her social worker. Got out of the car and headed for the door. She saw Emma in the window and waved, Emma didn't return it. Flora Forbes was a nice woman in her late sixties but Emma had counted on aging out of the system. This screwed up everything!  
"Emma, Ms. Forbes is here to see you!" Mrs. Caldwell, the woman who ran the group home, called. Emma sighed and grabbed the bag they made her pack and her baby blanket. None too happy Emma trudged down the stairs,  
"Hello, Emma!" Mrs. Forbes smiled warmly, "are you ready to go?" Emma rolled her eyes,  
"Whatever, where are you sending me?" Emma asked, Mrs. Forbes smiled,  
"Storybrooke, Maine... sounds _magical _doesn't it? Like a place for happy endings." Mrs. Forbes was a terrible optimist.  
"Maine. Are you _fucking_ kidding me?" Emma asked. It had been almost a decade since she'd been in Maine. And honestly her memories were not fond. So being sent back was less than thrilling.

They left Portland almost immediately, as they drove down interstates and passed miles of corn in Iowa with the occasional farm or town. Mrs. Forbes dropped hints about Emma's 'new life' Storybrooke was a small town, the people were nice, and time slowed down there, to Emma it sounded like all small towns, the kind of place where people were born and waited to die. She considered making a run for it in Boston, maybe high tailing it to New York until the coast was clear. But Mrs. Forbes had the child lock on. Finally after days, they arrived in Storybrooke. Emma slouched in the back seat glaring up at the clock tower that read 8:15 as they drove past. Emma looked up catching Mrs. Forbes looking in the rearview mirror, observing her.  
"Almost there," she said, just to fill the silence. Emma didn't respond; just returned to the window. Mrs. Forbes turned off Main St. and onto Walnut St. The town was cute, if a little run down. Mrs. Forbes made a left and then a right, pausing at a stop sign.  
"Ah, 116. We're here," Mrs. Forbes announced as she pulled the car into a vacant parking spot in front of a brick apartment building  
"Come on, Emma, grab your things." Emma rolled her eyes, just like when she was a kid. _'Gum. Other gum. Stand up straight, look presentable, smile and for God's sake be lady-like!'_ Ever since she was small it had been the same, resigned to her fate, Emma unbuckled her seatbelt and got out, shivering in the cool Maine air. Emma grabbed the small bag from the trunk, the entirety of her possessions, "You have my number." Mrs. Forbes said, Emma nodded as they trudged up the steps to the apartment. Mrs. Forbes knocked on the door. Heavy footfalls echoed inside a moment before the door swung open.  
"Hi," a young woman, with dark pixie hair said, smiling wide at Mrs. Forbes first and Emma second. Emma was surprised, they usually didn't pick people so young, the woman was old enough to be her sister!  
"Mrs. Blanchard?"  
"Mary Margaret, please," she responded, holding out her hand to shake. "And you must be Emma." Mary Margaret beamed. Emma kept staring, suspicious.

"How old are you?" Emma asked,

"Emma!" Mrs. Forbes scolded

"No it's all right!" Mary Margaret assured, "I'm twenty-nine." Emma shot Mrs. Forbes a look, but held her tongue.

"I'm sorry she's a little…" _broken, hurt, jaded, rowdy, brash… _"Forward." Mary Margaret laughed,  
"Come on in – Let me get that." She took the small bag from Emma's hand and placed it by the staircase, before ushering them into the living room.  
"Will Mr. Blanchard be joining us?" Emma asked looking around.

"There um… is no 'Mr. Blanchard'" Mary Margaret replied, again Emma shot Mrs. Forbes a look but held her tongue. Silently, Mrs. Forbes pulled a folder and a pen from her briefcase and handed them to Mary Margaret. She smiled a charming smile and quickly filled it out at the kitchen table.  
With forms signed and sealed, Mary Margaret led them upstairs under the pretext of putting Emma's suitcase in her room, but really allowing Mrs. Forbes time to check the place. Her boss had interviewed the Ms. Blanchard and told of the charming home, but Mrs. Forbes always wanted proof herself, which Mary Margaret seemed more than willing to give.  
"Just in here…" she said as she bumped a door open revealing a bedroom, simple in design, and a single bed pressed up against the wall. The bed was cover in a patchwork quilt that looked lovingly made with a small bookshelf and a small bedside light nearby.  
They finish the tour; the house is clean. They shake hands again, and Mrs. Forbes offers Mary Margaret her card. It's the same card that Emma has had hidden away in her backpack in case of emergencies for years, suddenly Mrs. Forbes broke all sorts of protocol as she hugged Emma goodbye and placed a kiss on her head.  
"Be good." She said, Emma didn't respond. She could make no promises.  
Emma watched her drive a way from the window and she had a feeling she wouldn't be back. Once the sleek black car is out of sight Emma turned to find Mary Margaret watching her,

"Well, I guess it's just you and me now." She said managing a small smile.

_**I'm Back! ONCE is back and so am I! Please review!**_


End file.
